With a Little Help from Some Friends
by ROSSELLA1
Summary: How Shere Khan gets out of the dragon head.


With a Little Help from Some Friends

By ROSSELLA1

Note: I do not own the Jungle Books, the Jungle Book I-2, Jungle Cubs, or any of their characters.

"Why are we doing thissss again?" Kaa moaned as he slithered through the jungle.

"Because," Hathi snapped, trampling next to the snake. "Shere Khan's our friend. No matter what he did!"

"Yeah!" Baloo spoke up from the other side of Kaa. "Old Stripes might have taken a few wrong turns, but he's our friend…or he used to be. And you don't give up on friends!"

"You said it, partner!" Louie seconded from overhead.

Bagheera, who was leading the group, sighed. "Now we'll have to take turns guarding the Man Village, though!"

"My troops will be happy to take up guard duty around the vicinity." The elephant volunteered. "You know it was during the year 1889 that I was employed in a similar-

"Oh, can it Hath.!" Louie chuckled, dropping down onto the Colonel's back. "We all know you were never in a real army!"  
>"I resent that." Hathi said stiffly.<p>

"Bagheera'ssss right," Kaa hissed, giving a brief shake of his head. "Assss much assss I hate that particular man cub, if Khan attackssss him while he'ssss in the Man Village…well, the whole…ssss… village will come into the jungle and then we'll never get a moment'ssss resssst! If we free him then we'll have to defend the Man Village! We sssshould jusssst go back!" He stopped only to have the other animals keep on moving. "Hey, wait up!"

"I'm not saying we should go back," Bagheera continued, "just that we should be realistic about the effects this is going to have. This could be very time consuming! We should probably have at least one of us guard him, as well…" He mused.

"Well, why don't we just make him take a time out in the Wasteland?" Baloo laughed.

The panther snorted, "When's the last time anyone made Shere Khan do anything?"

"Sssshere Khan isss uncontrollable!" Kaa agreed.

Baloo waved a paw. "We can sort that out later."

Hathi shook his head. "Procrastination is-

"We're here." Bagheera interrupted as they felt stone under their feet and they approached the precipice. The five exchanged glances and then Louie crept forward a bit.

"Hey, Khanie!" He called. "You still down there?"

There was a pause and then, "Oh, what are you doing here? Come to gloat?" The others went forward to see that Khan had broken enough of the stone to get out of his cage and was now perched on the dragon's head.

"Of course not!" Baloo exclaimed. " We've come to spring ya!"

"How ironic." Shere Khan mused.

"If you want us to go away…" Bagheera snapped.

"No!" Shere Khan almost shouted. Then in a calmer tone, "I mean, anything you can do is welcome."

The group exchanged brief smirks. Then Bagheera took charge. "Hathi?"

"Yes, Sir!" The elephant went over to the nearest tree and rearing up in the air, put all his weight against the trunk.

There was a splintering sound and then the whole tree collapsed. Baloo went to the top of the tree and Hathi got the other half. Louie pushed the middle of the tree and together they brought it to the edge of the cliff and carefully slid it down so that one end was resting on the top of the cliff and the other resting on the dragon's head.

The tiger looked at the tree warily. "Am I supposed to climb up that? What if it breaks or falls or catches fire?"

Bagheera growled. "Do you have a better option?"

"True." Shere Khan took a deep breath and stepped forward onto the tree. He waited a few seconds, and after it didn't fall, he slowly crept up the rest of the trunk until he was at the top where he was hauled into a big bear hug by Baloo.

"Khanie! You're safe!" The bear exclaimed.

Khan struggled and Baloo let him go. "Yes, well, I'm glad of the fact, too." He gave himself a shake. "Now, thank you, but I think I'd best be off." He turned to go into the jungle and found his way barred by Hathi. "Is there anything else?" Khan asked, in a menacingly polite tone.

"Yes!" the Colonel answered brusquely. "I am afraid we have some conditions to your release."

"Conditions?" Shere Khan repeated.

"You are not to go near the Man Village." Bagheera said, coming to stand on Khan's left.

"Yeah, and leave Mowgli alone!" Baloo chimed in from the tiger's right.

"I see…" The tiger mused. "And if I don't follow these…conditions?"

"Then we'll make you take a time out!" Baloo answered triumphantly.

Bagheera sighed. "We're going to have at least one of us guarding the Man Village at all times."

"And one of us is going to hang out with you all the time!" Louie added.

Shere Khan groaned. "I don't have time for this." He turned to go the other way and found his way blocked by Baloo. "Oh, please! I've been sitting for at least two hours on a dragon head surrounded by lava; can't I get a drink?"

The animals exchanged glances. "Ssssure." Kaa hissed. "We'll come with you…"

Shere Khan rolled his eyes but followed Baloo to the waterfront as the others formed a circle around with him. "I don't need or want babysitters." He snapped.

"Come on, Khanie!" Baloo said happily. "It won't be so bad; it'll be just like old times!"

"Yeah!" Louie chimed in. "We can have sleepovers and races and…" He continued rattling off a long list of activities as they went on their way.

Shere Khan shared an empathetic look with Bagheera. "You know," The tiger complained, "I never spent all of my time with you then, why should I now?"

"Because that was exactly the problem!" Colonel Hathi replied sternly from the back. "Socialization is very important in one's childhood. Why I believe it was a village in France that-"

"Hathi's right!" Bagheera rescued Shere Khan from a long digression. "If you had spent more time with your friends as a cub, maybe you wouldn't have turned into a sociopath!"

"I'm not a sociopath!" The tiger growled. "Only humans can be sociopaths!"

"That's not true!" Bagheera protested. "You kill men indiscriminately, you hunt for the fun of it, not just when you're hungry, and you don't care who you hurt. If that's not a sociopath then what is it?"

"A jungle cat." Shere Khan replied loftily. "Not that you would know anything about those."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that you're nothing more than an outside domestic cat!" The tiger smirked.

"Now wait just a moment…" Bagheera exclaimed.

Off to the side Baloo and Louie shared a smile as the two cats bickered. "Yup," Louie said, "just like old times!"


End file.
